Brand Focus: OPI Designer Series, Part II

Above and below: DS Exclusive. Direct sunlight above shows the true beauty of this color. Below is with a flash. As always, please click on photos for the 'WOW' factor!

Above and below: DS Amethyst. This is my personal favorite of the colors I have. Above is with flash, below in sunlight.

Above and below: Above is DS Vintage, with flash. I would describe the color as a rose-gold. Below is DS Dazzle. This one does not seem to have the depth as any of the others I've tried, but is still pretty in it's own right.

Continuing our discussion of the OPI Designer (DS) Series, I'd first like to ask if anyone knows how many of these have been issued? I have of list of 33 colors, 16 of which I have. I would love to acquire all of them and would like my list to be accurate so I don't miss any! On with our discussion...the ones I have, smell quite strong and the labels on the bottom have black print, as opposed to green print. I believe this means that they are NON-Big 3 Free, which I feel helps with the application process. The newer ones may be Big 3 free, but I don't know. Again, for those of you who know more about the black/green label determining the formula than I do, let's hear your opinion on this. OPI came out with this line about 3 years ago, and although there is a nice range of colors, I'd love to see a green one! I tried Frankening one, starting with a medium yellow shimmer (Nicole's One Voice) and adding DS Glamour, but all I got was a muddy grayish/blue tone, not anything you'd want to wear on your nails, for sure! As I posted in my DS Part I, 3 coats gives the best look, but they are relatively thin polishes, so you don't end up with a mess that takes forever to dry. There is a DS base and DS top coat available, but I find that any top coats I've used do not dull the holographic-ness of these, as is the case with some other holographic polishes. I'd like to try the top coat simply because it also has the diamond dust in it, just as these polishes do and I would think that would just enhance the holo-ness. These polishes also look lovely used as a one-coat layering polish over many darker nail polish colors.

8 comments:

Are you trying to drive me nuts Miss M....lol!? These polishes are gorgeous!! I don't own a single one. Let me check my crystal ball and see whats ahead in the future...hmmm... I see an order being made and a hubby fainting from more nail polish being bought!!LOL!!!!

Mary I didn't think there were that many DS shades. Boy was I wrong and I am sick! I only have 13 shades. I need to get the rest. I really love them. Does having the base for DS make any difference? I also got my prize yesterday. Just gorgeous colors and thanks again! I also love the OPI Hollywood Pig. She is adorable with her white with touches of pink, fake fur coat and plum high heels. Love her!

Velvet~You do need some of these, just start with one and then go from there. Hubby wants you to be happy!

Clockwork~thank you! I love these.

Nessa~I doubt I will ever have them all, but I can try!

Lucy~I didn't realize there were that many until I counted the names on my list. I don't know about the base coat making a difference, I'll have to see if I can find more info on it. Yay, I'm glad you received them! Do you have a favorite color? I thought you'd like the little pig, he looked cute on the website. Fake fur coat and heels...he-he!

I adored the OPI DS's and had (have - I still haven't swapped/sold them yet) 7 of them. Can't wear any of them anymore due to being allergic to the formaldehyde. It was devastating not being able to wear them! (or any OPI polishes for that matter). The deal with the black/green labels is that the green ones are "Big 3 Free" - but as I found out the hard way, that doesn't mean they don't have other nasties in them. You'd think when OPI says "Formaldehyde Free" that would mean that Formaldehyde doesn't appear anywhere on the ingredients list, but the green labels still have formaldehyde resin in them. At first I wasn't allergic to the resin but after about 2 months using the green labels - you guessed it - allergic to them now, too. It's very misleading and I'm quite angry about it. Other companies advertising themselves as "big 3 free" or "formaldehyde free" do it as well, which means I have to double, double check ingredients lists before I use anything and have wasted vast amounts of money on polish I can't use (china glaze - I'm looking at you!). Whew! Here endeth the rant! :) hehehe So anyway - no OPI for me in any form, unless it's Frankened. Or they change their formula again. Sigh.